nanotechnology

If you’re at all familiar with mobile processors, you’ve likely heard a lot about 32nm vs. 28nm construction when comparing the current generation of chips from companies like Qualcomm and others. That refers to the size of the processor, where a smaller number is better in terms of power consumption, fitting more transistors in less space for more efficient processing. Read More

“Our nanogenerators are poised to change lives in the future. Their potential is only limited by one’s imagination.” Strong, powerful words from Dr. Zhong Lin Wang, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, whose nanogenerators could one day power a whole host of gadgets, from your iPod to your favorite tablet. The idea rests upon zinc oxide nanowires, wires that generate… Read More

The Cleantech Open— a prestigious annual competition for U.S. tech startups that protect, restore, and reduce the negative impact of humans on the environment— announced its 2010 winners this week. Puralytics, a clean water startup from Beaverton, Oregon, took first prize.
The Puralytics team invented and sells a nanotechnology-based, photochemical water purification system that… Read More

We’re no strangers to grand promises of storage and speed here at CrunchGear. Holographic is a term used almost without break as scientists and engineers pitch giants like 3M and GE with technologies that won’t be consumer-ready for a decade. And of course, there’s the always-popular “nano.” In this case, it’s nanodots, or quantum dots, so-called because… Read More

Apparently the U.S. is walking “ass-backwards” into nanotechnology, which is totally not surprising. We’re not properly assessing the risks involved with playing God, we’re not telling the public what we’re working on and we’re not even sure why we’re messing with the science. (“We” being the scientists involved.) What’s worse is… Read More

Japan’s most prestigious educational institution, the University of Tokyo, and semiconductor company Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic), today unveiled an ultrasensitive sensor for robot use.
The prototype was produced based on MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) nanotechnology and is as small as a bread crumb. It’s made of silicon and covered with elastic rubber. Read More

A Nanorobotics professor at Carnegie Mellon has created a little pill-sized robot that he says can travel safely through the gut and snap good pictures along the way. The problem in the past has been that the adhesive required to stick a camera to an intestinal wall (or whatever) has been permanent. Meaning you’d have to rip out a piece if you wanted to remove the camera. So if you… Read More

This new technique allows for making very precisely engineered little canals and then filling them with copper (or another material) leaving no gaps at all. At the scale they’re talking about, it’s essentially like laying down nano-wire in any pattern they want to create. It’s a bit like filling a mold with play-dough and then scraping off the extra.
We don’t always… Read More

A research team from the University of Tokyo managed to create a microscopic bowl of ramen (Japanese noodles), measuring 1/12,500th of an inch (1/500th of a millimeter) in length and 1.25 millionth of an inch (1/50,000th of a millimeter) in thickness.
According to Japanese media, the project’s aim is to make a contribution to the advancement of nanotechnology. The bowl was carved out… Read More

So I’m here in Scotland with Audiofile Mike. It turns out that this home of The Highlander and hooliganism not only takes credit for bringing the world television, penicillin, and cloned sheep, but is now a steaming hotbed of new nanotechnology research. We spent the past week checking out bleeding edge nano, including ways of using OLED lights to smooth out skin cancer, microscopic… Read More